bkoganbing How well I remember the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra, Jr. which followed closely on the wake of JFK's assassination. At the time I kept thinking why of all celebrities would someone choose Frank Sinatra's family to victimize with all of that man's legal and extralegal resources? Yet three rejects from the gang that couldn't shoot straight actually did that incredible deed which fortunately for them, no harm, no foul and they all got incredibly early paroles. But the story of their trials and jail sentences is not told in this film.One factual error that was made was that the strategy of claiming that the whole thing was a publicity hoax that young Sinatra was in on was one used by their defense attorney later on at trial. The three perpetrators didn't claim that right away.Other than that, William H. Macy, David Arquette, and Ryan Browning are the three kidnappers in a story that sticks pretty factually close to the events as they happen. James Russo does a fine job playing the senior Sinatra, it's like seeing Old Blue Eyes himself. Fortunately the role did not call for singing like Sinatra.Showtime produced this film for their network and the plot centered around David Arquette playing Barry Keenan the organizer of the plot. His rather amoral character is gone into somewhat, the other two roles of John Irwin (William H. Macy) and Joe Amsler (Ryan Browning) are left kind of up in the air by the script.Stealing Sinatra is a factual retelling of one of the strangest events of the Sixties. A bit above average for a made for TV film.

DaveyandCeCe I am a fan of David Arquette, so that is the reason I saw this movie. I didn't really know what to expect, I read other peoples reviews, which weren't the best. However, I think people were being much to critical with this movie. I think that the performances given were great, and believable. The movie was shown in the kidnappers point of view, which in a true story, is very rare. Personally, I think that the performances of the criminals were yes bumbling, but that is simply because the actual criminals were. If you are a fan of someone in this movie, you will enjoy it. This is the type of movie that you watch just to watch and have fun.

Andrew_Bassett (Only light spoilers in here)Stealing Sinatra is a half-slapstick comedy about dimwit kidnappers, dimwit victims, and a few other side-stories thrown in to eat up some time.You will see some poor performances all around in this movie. The drama is forced, and the humor makes no sense. Whether you're watching the kidnappers threaten the victim who won't shut up, or a victim's father responding to the criminal's death threat with "Care for some tea?", none of it is believable. This quite comfortably fits into the "wannabe movie" category.You will also be listening to a repetitive goofy music track throughout pretty much the entire movie. It's quite unprofessional, and adds nothing. It's really just a sad attempt at making an achingly unfunny movie seem somewhat witty.However, if you're able to look past all of this and suspend a lot of disbelief, you might be entertained by the adequate storyline.I voted 4/10.

Nozz Forty years ago when Frank Sinatra Jr. was kidnapped, those who read the story weren't sure how seriously to take it. Intentionally or unintentionally, this movie captures the uneasiness. Sinatra Jr. is portrayed as a hapless dweeb, his kidnappers as quixotic eccentrics. An excellent soundtrack featuring period music serves to distance us from the whole 1960s setting. But other touches, particularly James Russo's brief appearances as Sinatra Sr., give a powerful believability to the family's victimization.